International Visitors KEREM AYAN, DIRECTOR OF ISTANBUL FILM FESTIVAL Born in Istanbul, Kerem Ayan moved to Paris in 1992 and studied film at the Ecole Supérieure de Réalisation Audiovisuelle and Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7. He was the Assistant Director and in charge of the Turkish cultural page in the Radio France Internationale for four years. Ayan started working for the Cannes Film Festival in 2001 and meanwhile, organized the International Literary Adaptation Market in Monaco. In 2005, he launched the Political Films Festival in Barcelona and directed it for three years. He became Director of the Istanbul Film Festival in 2015 where he worked as Assistant Director 2006 onwards. Kerem Ayan has been directing plays since 2010 and has so far staged Mr. Nobody (2010-2011); Chien-chien by Fabrice Roger-Lacan (2012-13), The Labor of Life by Hanoch Levin (2013-2018), The City For One by Behiç Ak (2014-15), and Zebercet by Yusuf Atılgan (2018 on). He wrote and directed the short film Fishbone in 2017.

JONATHAN BARUCH, FOUNDING PARNTER, RAIN MANAGEMENT GROUP USA Jonathan Baruch is the founding partner at RMG (Rain Management Group), a media company that manages the careers of artists and produces/packages content in all areas of entertainment. The company’s diverse client list includes winners/nominees of the Golden Globes, Oscars, Emmys, Tony, National Book Awards, Billboard Awards, AMAs, NAACP Image Awards, Humanitas, and The Pulitzer Prize, including Executive Producers on THE AMERICANS and HANDMAID’S TALE, among others.. Outside the entertainment industry, Jonathan sits on the board of Israel 21-C, a non-partisan, nonprofit organization that supplies diverse and reliable news and information about 21st Century Israel.

JAY COHEN, PRODUCER, PARTNER AT GERSH AGENCY USA Jay Cohen is a Partner and the Head of Film Finance and Packaging at The Gersh Agency, one of Hollywood’s oldest and largest talent agencies. Previous to Gersh, Cohen had a three- year partnership with Dustin Hoffman and Village Roadshow Pictures Australia. He created the company Cosmic Entertainment, a partnership with Goldie Hawn, Kurt Russell, and Kate Hudson. He started his own company, Light Speed Media, in 2004. His first film, which he produced and self-financed, was the critically acclaimed hit Swimming with Sharks,(1995). Cohen produced Two for the Money starring Al Pacino, Matthew McConaughey, and Rene Russo. He developed and produced Mad Money, starring Diane Keaton, Queen Latifah, and Katie Holmes, directed by Academy Award winner Callie Khouri (Thelma and Louise), as well as Bride Wars starring Kate Hudson and Anne Hathaway for New Regency Pictures.

YAEL FOGIEL, PRODUCER, LES FILMS DU POISSON, FRANCE Yael founded Les Films Du Posson with Laetitia Gonzalez in 1994, their first production Madame Jacques Sur la Croisette won the César (French Oscar) for best short film in 1997. Since then, they produced more than 100 features, documentaries and shorts. Yael has always shown her commitment towards international independent cinema, both sensitive and with a strong message to achieve a great public and critical success. In 2010, Fogiel and Gonzalez were awarded Best Producer of the Year at the César and earned the Personality of the Year Award of Le Film Français. In 2013, their production The Gatekeepers by Dror Moreh received an Oscar nomination for Best Documentary. Yael Fogiel represented France for « Producer on the Move » in Cannes in 2000, and has been a member of the National Center of Cinema’s selective committee (Avance sur recettes) as well as participated in several festivals as jury member.

GULLAUME DE SEILLE, PRODUCER, ARIZONA PRODUCTIONS Arizona Productions, Paris based, is led by Guillaume de Seille to mainly coproduce art-house feature films directed by non-French emerging talents. Bénédicte Thomas is handling domestic theatrical French distribution for most of the co produced titles. A dark, dark man by Adilkhan Yerzhanov (Kazakhstan) San Sebastian 2019, Oleg by Juris Kursietis (Latvia), Cannes Directors Fortnight 2019. KAREN HASSAN, HEAD OF MARKETING, CATTLEYA, ITALY As head of marketing of CATTLEYA - Italy’s premier media producer - for 12 years, Karen Hassan drove the strategy for all films and tv series, including GOMORRAH and SUBURRA. I amnow committed to building a bridge between israel and Italy for new productions.

SAM KLEBANOV, CINEZEN BLOCKCHAINED ENTERTAINMENT, RUSSIA/SWEDEN Sam holds a degree in Applied Mathematics from Moscow University of Economics and Statistics. He moved to Gothenburg, Sweden in 1991 and worked as a software engineer and a CTO for several Swedish companies until 1996 when he started a film distribution company Maywin Media / Cinema Without Borders, which became a leading force of independent and arthouse film distribution in the territory of former USSR where it released over 600 films in the course of 20 years. Sam has also produced and co-produced 5 motion pictures and hosts a prime-time TV show about modern cinema. In 2017 he co-founded a Swedish start-up Cinezen Blockchained entertainment AB, which develops and runs the world’s first transactional Blockchain-VOD

STEPHEN MAO, STUDIO MAO Mao began a career as a photographer/photojournalist with the Associated Press while studying at the University of Southern California (USC). Today Mao is President of Studio Mao and is involved with production and creative direction. In addition to the traditional film business Mao is actively engaged in supporting charities through the donation of archival museum quality photographs from his personal collection. He is co-producer, among others, of SKIN, Executive Producer of THE KINDERGARTEN TEACHER, DRIVEWAYS and more.

LEE MASON, COMMISSIONING EDITOR, DRAMA, CHANNEL 4, UK Lee Mason is a Drama Commissioning Editor at UK broadcaster Channel 4 and has overseen series including The End of the F***ing World, No Offence, Ackley Bridge, Loaded, Crazyhead and Hollyoaks. Before Channel 4, Lee worked with a number of production companies and broadcasters including Tiger Aspect, BBC, Endemol Shine, Shed Media and Keshet International. Upcoming series include The End of the F***ing World 2 by Charlie Covell, Adult Material by Lucy Kirkwood and The Boys by Russell T Davies.

CLARA OCHAR, FESTIVALS AND ACQUISITIONS, LOCO FILMS Graduated in political science from Sciences Po Paris in France, Clara began its career at the French National Center for Cinema (CNC) first in the department of foreign affairs and then in the department of film heritage and conservation. She also collaborated with the French production company StudioCanal as scenarios consultant. Now she’s in charge of festivals and acquisitions for the Paris-based sales agency, Loco Films.

BEKI PROBST, FORMER PRESIDENT OF EUROPEAN FILM MARKET, BERLINALE Born in Istanbul, where she first worked as a journalist after completing her studies in law and journalism, Beki Probst moved to Switzerland, where she became the general manager of the Quinnie Cinemas. From 1981 to 1988, Beki Probst served as the Berlin International Film Festival’s official delegate for Turkey and Greece. Beki Probst founded the European Film Market ofthe Berlinale in 1988, developing it into one of the most significant industry hubs in the international film business. She was its Director and later President until 2018. Beki Probst has served as a jury member on multiple international film festivals and has received much recognition – she has been decorated as “Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres” by the French Ministry of Culture, was honoured with the Berlinale Camera in 2018 and in 2019 with the Honorary Award of the Swiss Film Award. ALICE RATHERT, VFX PRODUCER, THE POST REPUBLIC/AUTOMATIK VFX, GERMANY/ LONDON Alice Rathert is working as a VFX Producer for Post Republic’s VFX division Automatik VFX with offices in Berlin, London and Hamburg. Prior to shifting her career focus on the visual effects industry, Alice was working as an in-house producer for The Post Republic, overseeing the post production process in both picture and sound departments. Some of Alice’s feature film credits include LOVE TRILOGY: STRIPPED, THE OPERATIVE, and MY ZOE. Alice continues to maintain a close relationship with The Post Republic working closely with their in-house producing team on the projects in need of visual effects and oversees projects from the bid stage up to delivery.

FRANCOIS YON, PRODUCER, DISTRIBUTION, PLAYTIME GROUP, FRANCE Born in 1966, François Yon studied film production at Boston University, where he obtained a Master in Broadcast Administration. He was a film sales agent for Paravision, UGC and StudioCanal in Paris before founding Films Distribution in 1997 (renamed PLAYTIME in 2017). Francois Yon has a diversified experience in international and domestic acquisitions, sales and in marketing.

SPECIAL GUESTS

STEPHAN ELLIOTT, DIRECTOR AND SCRIPTWRITER, AUSTRALIA Elliott’s first film Frauds was selected for competition at the Cannes Film Festival 1993.The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994) starring Terence Stamp, Hugo Weaving and Guy Pearce. Priscilla went on to become one of the most successful Aussie films of all time, racking up an Academy Award, BAFTA and AFI awards for Best Costume Design and a Best Make Up/Hair. Other nominations include a Writers Guild Award and Golden Globe for Best Comedy/Musical. Stephan then was talked into screening his unfinished black comedy Welcome to Woop Woop, starring Rod Taylor, Barry Humphries and Rachel Griffiths - in Cannes 1997. It was booed out of the festival . The film has since grown into a massive underground cult. He countered with the thriller Eye of theBeholder (1999) which premiered at Venice that year winning the Brussels sci-fi and fantasy festival – an award also shared by Frauds.

AGNIESZKA HOLLAND, DIRECTOR AND SCRIPTWRITER, CHAIRWOMAN OF EUORPEAN FILM ACADEMY (EFA) Film director and scriptwriter. Chairwoman of European Film Academy (EFA). Her first feature film was , awarded the FIPRESCI at the Cannes Film Festival. Directed - among others- , Olivier Olivier, The Secret Garden, Total Eclipse, Washington Square, Third Miracle, Shot in the Heart, , In Darkness, Spoor, Mr Jones and miniseries as Burning Bush, Rosemary’s Baby. Directed episodes of American TV series as The Wire, Treme, The Killing, House of Cards, and Netflix’ 1983. Received three Academy Award nominations and numerous prestiguous film awards.

KRZYSZTOF ZANUSSI, FILM DIRECTOR, PRODUCER AND SCRIPWRITER, POLAND Krzysztof Zanussi is a film director, producer and scriptwriter. Director of many award-winning, internationally acclaimed films (awarded in Cannes, Venice, Locarno, Moscow, Chicago, Montreal, Berlin, Tokio): The Structure of Crystal, Illumination, Camouflage, Constant Factor, The Year of Quiet Sun, In Full Gallop, Persona Non Grata, Revisited, Foreign Body, Ether. Krzysztof Zanussi is also a theatre director staging productions all around the world. He has authored several books. Has honorary doctorate of many renowned universities and gives lectures all around the world. President of Tor Film Production. FILMMAKERS GUESTS FROM TURKEY – REGIONAL SCREENINGS

OMAR AND US NOAH LAND

MEHMET BAHADIR ER, Writer/Director CENK ERTURK, Writer/Director MARYNA ER GORBACH, Director ALP ERTURK, CENK ERTURK, SEVKI TUNA ERTURK, Producers Ismet is a Turkish soldier, who was on duty at the border as a Commander of the Coast Guard and Suffering through a mid-life crisis, Omer has to face the recently got retired. Now as a civilian, he struggles to angry villagers in order to realize his estranged father›s communicate with his family and people surrounding dying wish to be buried under the enshrined Noah Tree him. which his father claims to have planted half a century ago.

Maryna Er Gorbach and Mehmet Bahadir Er are Cenk Erturk is a filmmaker with an excessive interest a co-directing team, their movies awarded and in duels and owls. He began developing Noah Land at screened world in festivals worldwide. They are New York University and finalized the screenplay at presented internationally in Rotterdam, Locarno, Cannes Film Festival Cinéfondation Residence. Erturk Warsaw, Moscow, Tallin, Sarajevo, New York, Seattle, is currently developing his second feature, which follows Stockholm, Cairo, Carthage, and more. a couple navigating a self-destructive journey to form a “happy” family.

NOAH LAND won ‘Best Screenplay’ and ‘Best Actor’ award at Tribeca Film Festival and screens in internationally acknowledged film festivals around the world.